Telcos adopting new principles for managed services SLAs

Telcos adopting new principles for managed services SLAs

Telcos have steadily evolved their propositions to emphasize service over price in a move designed to protect revenues from lower cost challengers. In spite of a dedication to service excellence, many of the contracts we see offer little to the enterprise when service levels are breached. This report outlines how several service providers, including BT, Tata Communications, and Cable & Wireless, are re-orientating their businesses and introducing new service performance measures by more widely deploying ITIL (the Information Technology Infrastructure Library) and adopting new commercial principles – to good effect. Ovum recommends that enterprises abandon traditional ways of negotiating with providers in favour of securing bespoke agreements with commercial terms that underpin the service commitment. In conclusion, this report provides guidance to CIOs on some of the key principles for negotiating successful contracts.

Table of contents

Telco service propositions

But what is the value of service to the enterprise?

Three value propositions

Value - lowest cost provider
Value - management simplicity
Value – standard of service

Service challenges

Telcos may assume risk for poor performance

Provider commercial service measures

Provisioning times, service management are key areas

Service-orientated SLAs: ten tips

Guidelines for negotiating managed service agreements

Table of figures

Figure 1 Enterprise priorities when choosing a network provider
Table 1 Lead time improvement for provisioning, BT and Cable & Wireless
Figure 2 Cable & Wireless average-time-to-repair improvement